Pollen morphology in the genus Bolanthus (Caryophyllaceae) in Turkey

Bolanthus including 11 species and all endemic in Turkey. Pollen morphology that belong to the genus Bolanthus were investigated using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In this study, all of 11 species in Bolanthus were studied. Pollen of seven species were determined from Turkey and reported for the first time. Pollen shape has two different ornamentation at genus Bolanthus as prolate-spheroidal and oblate-spheroidal. Pollen grains are polipantoporate and isopolar symmetrical. The pollen ornamentation is scabrate-perforate. Pollen diameter, pore diameter, pore numbers, exine thickness, operculum diameter, distance between two pores, spinule numbers, punctum numbers are varying characters between Bolanthus species. The taxonomic separations of the species have been demonstrated with SPSS analysis as dendrogram.